The Games People Play

 FIVE YEARS AGO-CHINATOWN

Attorney Kayla Bennett took a seat in Eddie Lee's card game...

Eddie Lee's quasi legal card game usually comprised of Asian and Russian gangsters who had a lot of money to spend and to lose. He very rarely let civilians...regular working class joes play...He knew they didn't have enough money to afford to lose or to pay back and he really, really didn't want to have to lean on them...He prided himself with keeping that level of violence to a minimum in this neighborhood...Which was why the police didn't bother him..

Assistant District Attorney Patrick Peace often played in his game.. He demanded to play.. Eddie Lee hated him personally, but he allowed him to play...The ADA not only had a lot of money, but he was a skilled player , who always won and won big..

"Eddie , who's the cute Black chick in the red dress?" he asked..

''She's a lawyer.. just moved back here from Atlanta...works at some tony law firm , a few blocks from here..Her name is Kayla, Kayla Bennett..." he said.

'Wonder if she's related to the uh defense attorneys, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her niece, Beverly West." he said..

thinking about the two people in his circle refferred to as "Auntie and Niecey"

"Well luck is with you tonight counselor...She's Olivia's first cousin...Beverly is a second cousin...but they are two days apart in age..and they both graduated from PENN LAW SCHOOL together.."said Eddie Lee..

''She's playing in the big Poker game...She any good.?" he asked..

"She hasn't lost yet..." sighed Eddie Lee.

Kayla ,like her two famous cousins,

Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West..was taught to play Poker by her uncle, Alvin Bennett

Olivia's Father and Beverly's Grandfather...and her older cousin..and Beverly's father,

Jimmy West...who was Olivia's older brother...The two men played each other...They taught little Olivia how to play and in time taught Baby Beverly and Baby Kayla how to play....

Kayla was now a full grown woman and like her two cousins...A Master at the game..

She had won three games tonight already and was taking home an extra $4000.00 dollars tonight..She had come with $1000.00 to play and had quadrupled it...She wasn't planning to stay much longer..

Someone sent a drink over to her.. She smiled..

"Hey....I've been watching you...You handle yourself pretty well over here little lady." said ADA Patrick Peace..slyly running his hands up her skirt and rubbing her shapely legs..

"Thanks for the drink...You seem to be running YOUR GAME pretty well too!" said Kayla, removing his hands..

"Care to play?  I've got next game.." said ADA Peace..

"Welllllll.I was getting ready to go home...I've been here longer than I uh wanted to...I've won...And you know what they say...You gotta know when to hold em and know when to fold em...My Uncle always taught me...to play the game...don't let the game play you." said Kayla.

"Great Cliche's....You should play me....NEXT!! I insist!" he said, squeezing her leg...

Now she was nervous....and a little afraid of this man...She wished Ray, her than boyfriend, now her husband was here with her ,instead of in Atlanta on business..

"Okay..." cut the cards." she said.

Patrick Peace smiled.

"You know...I'm an Attorney too, just like you...I'm Assistant District Attorney here." he said.

"I work at a firm , not far from here.." said Kayla, who felt a little better, knowing this guy wasn't some gangster..."Perhaps you know my cousins...They're Defense Attorneys, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and Beverly West."said Kayla..

"I've heard of them..I've seen them a few times...Never actually met them...But I'm sure our paths will cross one day..." said Patrick Peace... "You're a good looking woman, what are you doing in here alone?" he asked.

"My Boyfriend is an attorney too and he's out of town on business....He's in Atlanta..I couldn't find any girlfriends, so I went out alone..I enjoy playing Poker occassionally." she said , once again removing his wandering hands from her legs and up her skirt..

"If you were my girl I wouldn't leave you alone in Philly on a Saturday Night..Heh heh heh!" he laughed..

THREE HOURS LATER!

"I can't believe it!" said Eddie Lee to one of his assistants...

"Me neither...That ADA is a pain in the ass, but he usually cleans up in here..I've sworn he was cheatin, had some kind of system." said One of Eddie Lee's men..

"That girl cleaned him out three games straight...If you add her early winnings and what she won from him...She's up $7500.00 plus his watch...They all laughed..

"Well, I'm done guys...Thank you for a great night.." said Kayla, cashing in her chips..

"One more game...triple or nothin...Come on..." pleaded Patrick Page...

''Nooooooo I'm tired, I'm going home. I've already taken $3500.00 from you..plus your watch.

"I think you should quit.." said Kayla..

The entire table laughed... A lot of the playas were glad to see Patrick Page lose.

"ONE MORE GAME , I INSIST!" he said sternly grabbing her arm...

"NO!! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" said Kayla.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF THE LADY!" said Eddie Lee, sternly. He had gotten a kick out of seeing Patrick Page beaten resoundly...

Kayla gave him his watch back..

Kayla gave him his watch back...

"I don't want your watch... We'll just call it even ." she said and she got up and left...

Patrick Page was beyond furious..He hated losing and he rarely lost at anything..He was crazy....

She didn't go home that night...She felt she was being followed...She came to our house.

"Look at you all dressed up...Where you been?"asked Beverly.

"I was down Chinatown at Eddie Lee's card game...I won $7500.00 total...Half of it from some freak, Assistant District Attorney named Patrick Peace...Soooooo how bout I treat my two favorite cousins to a fine dinner tomorrow night? I know a steakhouse that serves the thickest steaks and the best martinis." said Kayla.

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.....See, I love this girl...I'm sooo glad she's back in the city."laughed Olivia.

"Be careful in Eddie Lee's joint...It's not good to go by yourself.." I warned..

"Yeah...you should have came and got us...We were lookin for something to do..and we wound up doing nothin..Ordering take out and chilling." said Nelson.

Unknown to her...Patrick Page had followed her....To our house!!

He was furious he had lost all of his pocket change tonight and been embarrassed in front of guys he used to beat...

As a result..He never went back to Eddie Lee's joint again and never played Poker or any other card game again.

We all laughed as Kayla recalled her meeting with ADA Peace...We were eating lunch in town...It was a day we ran into each other in court, where we were filing a motion in another case.

"Wow! I barely remembered that night.."laughed Beverly..

"I remembered that fat steak.." laughed Nelson..

"Yes....that felt good,Enjoying my winnings that night.."laughed Kayla..

"You ever run into him again baby?" asked Olivia.

"A couple of times in court..in the hallway...He couldn't even look at me."said Kayla..

"I told you he hates to lose at anything, Checkers, Chess, Cards, Fooseball, Jacks...He is very competitive..He must win and if he loses, he'll demand you play him until he wins...The people who I talked to said he is insufferable..They don't pull out any games during social events.." I said.

"I can see how he'd make you hate anything you were foolish enough to play with him..." said Josie.

"After we beat him last month, I imagine he didn't rest until he got the chance to go up against us again..If he loses this time..He may retire." said Bresha..

We all busted out on laughter!

II-

We met with our client John Blakely in secret  at the uptown coffee shop a few hours later to discuss several things..

"I know we told you we'd meet with you through Portal and  Burner phone..but we were electronically compromised a week ago...We took care of that threat..But it's much better to meet face to face.." said Olivia.

"This way we know we aren't being compromised.." I said.

"Good Idea Liv, plus I like the coffee here." he said with a smile..

"Aside from your trial..I know you're concerned with your business...I've found you a potential buyer and some advertisers...I'd like to facilitate a deal with your blessings..." said Josie..

"Oh Most definitely....I'd hate to put that on hold because of this damn murder trial..If you could make that happen, let's do that sooner as oppossed to later."said John.

"Nelson, Bresha, Auntay and I are here to discuss your defense strategy..." said Beverly...

"Now what the prosecution has is your fingerprints on the door and video caught on the street cam, the ATM Cam across the street of you entering the building...and of you leaving the building." said Nelson..

"I called 911, I reported it." said John Blakely...

"That's good....They'll be a record of that..." said Bresha...

"I ordered a copy of the Condo's inside camera footage and I've been looking at hours of ATM footage and Street cam footage with Beverly...Somebody else...The killer entered that building and I'm pretty sure it'll show up."I said.

"You'd think Tragg would have been doing all of this before he arrested me."said  John Blakely.

"You would think." said Olivia.

We all laughed.....

In the office of Assistant District Attorney Patrick Peace... 

He listened intently as Lt. Tragg told him about our dinner party of a month ago..

"Olivia and Beverly had a big shindig at their Office/Duplex a month ago.." laughed Lt. Tragg

In our conference room...Champaigne bottles popped..

Champaigne was being served..

We were hosting the successful sale of the Magazine, Black Utopia to Capital One Communications...

We had acted as represnatives for Black Utopia, a previously independent, Black Fashion and Modern culture magazine run by John Blakely , a childhood friend of Olivia to Capital One Communications, a larger publishing company out of New York City that had bought it..

Olivia looked stunning in her gown...I couldn't take my eyes off of her....

We had been working on this deal and our murder case at the same time....One of the reason it was nice to have more attorneys at the firm now.

Josie, with her business background was tantamount to our sucess...

 Beverly looked stunning in her dress as well.

I'm sure Nelson knew that...He was staring harder at her than I was Olivia..

Newlyweds Josie and Paris were standing in a corner sipping Champaigne and laughing and talking quietly

"You okay baby?" asked Josie..

Paris ran his hands along her hips and smiled..

"Ohhhh yeah!"

Bresha and Tony ,also newlyweds enjoyed champaigne...

"You having a good time baby?" asked Bresha.

"Ohhh yeah, you don't know how envious I am of you girl... Your employers really know how to throw a shindig!" said Tony..

 

Our office manager, Alfreda  had got her caterer to cater the event..

There was plenty of food and drink for everybody....

All of our guests seemed to happy.....

"I hope everybody is enjoying themselves." said Olivia.

"Olivia...everything is wonderful." said John Blakely, who put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek...

He then picked up and empty glass and a spoon and clanged on it and got everyone's attention...

"Attention...Attention ..everyone....I would like to not only like to announce the successful merger of my magazine and Capital One Communications Inc. of New York but announce the upcoming wedding of myself and Sarah Loft..." he said as everybody clapped and cheered...

Sarah Loft looked genuinely shocked..She was the Attorney for Capital One Communications , who worked with Olivia and us to facilitate the deal...

"UHHHH EXCUSE ME!!! I UH HATE TO SAY THIS...AT A TIME LIKE THIS.." said Charles Van Jr., Son of the owner of Capital One Communications...but I proposed to Sarah Luft yesterday and she agreed to be MY WIFE!" he said..

You could hear a pin drop!!

"WOW! WHAT? " exclaimed Nelson.

"Oh My God!" said Paris, Josie's Husband.

"I didn't just hear that did I?" asked Attorney Tony Billips...Bresha's husband.

."I certainly heard it.,..I can't believe it!" I said.

"Talk about awkward....." said Bresha..

"I knowww right?" said Josie.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh lorrrrd!" said a shocked Beverly...

"OHHHHHHHH John, I am soooo Sorry." said Olivia...

John Blakely ran over to Sarah Luft ,furious, livid...

Nelson and I stepped in between them and grabbed John.

"WHOA! Mannnn Cool it! " said Nelson...

"Come on man....I know how you feel.." I said.

"NO YOU DON'T!" he snarled... He then looked at Sarah..

"YOU SLUT!  YOU SHAMELESSS WHORRRE! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!! IF I SEE YOU AGAIN..I'LL KILL YOU!!! You just used me to make the merger... I SWEAR..I'LL KILL YOU!" he said and smashed his glass on the floor and stormed out!!!

"That's some story...That goes to motive right there.." said Patrick Peace , smiling broadly...

"I interviewed  every single person that was at that event , except, Olivia, her husband, Donnie Ray,Beverly, Nelson,Josie, their new girl and their husbands and that harpie Alfreda...Just say the word and I'll subpeonas drawn up for all of em.."laughed Lt. Tragg..

"They're his legal team...I can't compell his legal team to testify against him...Ha ha...and this is funnier than you'll know..I can however subpeona ONE of his attorneys...and he one I'm going to subpeona is Olivia herself...Hahahahahahahaha....I wish I could be there to see the look on her face when you subpeona her..."laughed Patrick Peace..

"Oh Yesss...This will be rich," laughed Lt. Tragg.

III-

We were in court and at lunch with Kayla...this morning and a meeting with our client right after that...We were gone most of the day...

Rockland ,riding high off of three straight courtroom victories had taken the day off and nothing he liked better than visiting our place and his girlfriend, Alfreda Johnson, our office manager..

"Where is everybody?" he asked.

"They are all out today...

They had a court appearence , another case they are filing a motion for..

and they are uh meeting with their present client in private, some coffee shop

in town ..They're going to be gone for awhile." said Alfreda..

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh reallly!" said Rockland, smiling slyly....

"Seriously....Do you ever think about anything other than sex?" she said, smiling as he took her in his arms..

"Sure I do."said Rockland, smiling slyly...

kissing her passionately.....

"Liar" said Alfreda.

Rockland laughed..

Rockland had her dress up and his hands down into her panties...

"Rockland, myyyyy goodnesss, you just got here!" said Alfreda..

"Maybe we can finish without that boob ,Lt. Tragg interfering.." he said.

as he slipped her panties down...

"OHHHH MYY GOD ALFREDA!!!!" he gasped..

"WHAT??? I bought them for you....because I knew you'd like them.." she said..

"YESSSSSSSsssss! I DOOOOOOOOO!!" he said..

"Oh hush up silly.." she giggled..

For the third time...He and Alfreda went for it..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WOUUUUUUUUUUUU OUUUUUUUUU ROCKLAND!" she cooed.

He lifted her up and went to town, long stroking her...

TWO HOURS SLIPPED BY!

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH !!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! OHHHHHHH!!!!" he moaned loudly..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU ROCKLAND...I'M IN LOVE WITH YOUUUUUUU!" she screamed..

"OHHHHHHHHHHH FREDA....OUUUUUUU!" he moaned.

He had her on the counter, moving slowly inside of her...He was close to cumming..So was Alfreda.

ANOTHER HOUR SLIPPED BY!

"UMMMMMMMMMMMM, RIGHT THERE..RIGHT THERE ROCKLAND....OUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned...

The doorbell rang...and there was banging on the door.

"OPEN UP!! I KNOW SOMEBODY IS THERE OPEN UP!!! I HAVE A WARRANT....I NEED TO TALK TO OLIVIA AND BEVERLY!!!OPEN IT UP!!!" screamed Lt. Tragg..

"I DON'T BELIEVE THIS GUY....HE'S LIKE CLOCKWORK!" snarled a furious Rockland..

"Ignore him....Handle your business...HANDLE YOUR BUSINESS RIGHT HERE!" demanded

Alfreda..

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" said Rockland as he continued to thrust, he was very close to cumming..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU RIGHT THERE...RIGHT THERE ROCKLAND!!! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...UMMMMMMMM!" cooed Alfreda as she experienced an orgasm so intense, she broke into tears....as her body shook...

It took Rockland a few minutes longer...but he came and came hard...his body shaking furiously...his mouth wide open , his eyes going into the back of his head..

Lt. Tragg continued to ring the door bell and bang  on the door....

"OPEN IT UP!! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! OPEN UP!" he bellowed but no one answered...

Alfreda straightened up, fixed her clothing. 

As did Rockland , thoroughly satisfied...

Alfreda ran some hot water and poured some Pine Sol into a small bucket...She took a new sponge and washed down the counter...Sanitizing it....She had no way of knowing that both

Olivia and I had made love in this same kitchen on that same counter many many times before...but not in recent years...

So had Beverly and Nelson... We all washed and sanitized that counter down with hot water and Pine Sol, but none of us prepared any food on that counter...Most food we ate in the office was catered or take out anyway...Any real cooking was done upstairs in our domiciles.

Rockland watched Alfreda mesmerized...

Furious Lt. Tragg headed to his car...

"I'LL BE BACK....I HAVE A LEGAL WARRANT!!  I'LL BE BACK!!" he bellowed.

TWENTY MINUTES after he left...We pulled up...

"Lt. Tragg was here...I wouldn't let him in...He said he has a warrant and he wants to talk to you Livy.."said Alfreda.

"He always wants to talk to me..I can imagine he wants to serve me with a subpeona to be a witness for the prosecution...right out of the diabolical mind of Patrick Peace...he doesn't just want to beat me..He wants to humiliate me as well, by making me his witness." said Olivia..

"He can't do that can he? You're the defense." I said.

"That's right, he can't do that...There are predicates and cases...I know there are." said a furious Beverly...

"Actually he can neicey poo.. PEOPLE VS CRANDLE...He can't call the entire legal team, but he can call one, maybe even two of us..." said Olivia dryly...

"You're a walking encyclopedia of law." said Bresha in awe..

"You will be too, when you've been an Attorney long enough." said Nelson.

"What are you gonna do Liv?" asked Josie..

"Let em catch me....Why run? And maybe he won't come back by here." sighed Olivia, looking at her watch... "It's late anybody care like dinner, AT SAM MOTHER'S?" asked Olivia..

IV-

We hadn't eaten dinner in Sam Mother's Diner in months...Even he was surprised to see us...

"Wow...I'm surprised to see you guys in here this time of day." said Sam Mother..

"I know right? What's good today Sam?" asked Olivia.

"The Meat Loaf is tonight's special.." said Sam Mother.

"Sounds good to me, how about you lover?" asked Olivia.

"Works for me." I said.

"Make that two more." said Nelson...

Beverly slipped out of her heels when she sat down and leaned her head into her husband's shoulders..

"Add two more to that." said Tony Billips, Bresha's husband...He had his hands around her waist,

Bresha leaned her head into his shoulders...

"Large Cobb Salad please and a Coke." said Josie..

"Burger and Fries Sammy and a Coke." said Paris..

Six Orders of Meat Loaf with mashed Potatoes and Hot coffee came up....

Josie's salad and Coke arrived 

And Paris's Burger and Fries arrived.

We were enjoying our food for a good thirty minutes and then just as we suspected.. Lt. Tragg walked in.

Naturally, he walked over to the area where we were eating..

"Welllllll you guys must have been working late today...I don't usually see you in here this time of day." he snarled.

"Think about why you don't." said Beverly...

Her sarcasm went completely over his head..

Nelson, Bresha and Josie got it and cracked up....

Paris and Tony said nothing, they continued eating...

as did I..

"I stopped by your Office earlier today...I see now that you and your crew probably weren't home..but your.....your office manager was there and she didn't answer the door.. I assume she was entertaining  a certain Assistant District Attorney...but anyhow , now I've found you...I have a little something for you Liv..

"It's called a little subpoena... Bet you never thought you'd get one did ya?  You're so used to plopping them in other people's laps... Assistant District Attorney Patrick Peace says hello." he said and waited as if he expected a reaction.

He was surprised that we went back to eating ..

"I suppose you told him about the dinner party we had a month ago and what happened there and I'm sure you interviewed everybody too...So did my husband.." she said.,looking lovingly at me..

"You ought to order the special..it's really good Lieuteant." I said. matter of factly.

"Tell ADA Peace...I'm not going to tell him anything different than what those other people already told you " said Olivia.. She put the subpeona in her purse and she continued eating..

As did Bresha and Tony and Josie and Paris.

Nelson, Beverly and I were finished...We looked at Olivia's subpeona

then we put it away...

Patrick Peace walked in...He walked over to where we were eating...Everyone looked relaxed...No one was fuming. We had all finished eating and were paying our bills...

"Cute trick...Subpeonaing me..I expected better from you...You're still going to lose.. My client is going to be acquitted." said Olivia ,smiling..

We all piled in the Escalade and pulled off.

Leaving ADA Peace, standing there, fuming!

(TO BE CONTINUED)